After sluggish start, Grace Prep explodes past TC-Lubbock and into TAPPS state final
Arlington Grace Prep went on a 29-2 run during the first half to complete the rout over Lubbock Trinity Christian 79-57 in a TAPPS 4A state semifinal game on Thursday at Robinson High School.
Grace Prep (34-2), the No. 1 ranked TAPPS 4A team in the state, returns to the state final for the second-straight season in a rematch with The Woodlands Christian (28-10), which won last year, at 8 p.m. Friday at West HS.
“I thought Evan McCarthy and Myles McCrary were both in an offensive rhythm,” Grace Prep coach Richie Alfred said. “We hoped all year long to get back to the title game and I know in the back of everyone’s minds, their goal was to play in that game and I’m excited for it.”
Trailing 13-7 in the opening period, Grace Prep scored the final seven points of the quarter to grab its first lead, 14-13. McCrary, who finished with 17 points, 11 rebounds and 5 blocks, started the spurt with a 3-point play.
“Think we got caught up in the crowd and noise at first, but we called a timeout and went back to fundamentals and back to our style of play,” McCarthy said. “We started clicking as a team.”
Trinity Christian (25-16) scored with 7:43 in the second quarter on a Tru Buchanan bucket, but that would be its final lead, 15-14. GP scored the next six from McCrary, Lundyn Ellison and DJ Jones that forced a TC timeout at 20-15. McCarthy, who dropped a game-high 27, hit back-to-back 3-pointers to force another timeout at 28-15 with 4:14 left in the half.
“We weren’t defending, which sounds crazy, but that’s what we do. Our defense spurs our offense and once we starting getting stops and run outs, we started to roll offensively,” Alfred said.
TC’s scoring drought lasted 6 1/2 minutes until Sam Davis’ basket at the 1:18 mark. GP took a 38-19 lead at intermission. McCarthy added his third 3-pointer and a quick basket to push the lead to 47-29 midway through the third quarter and GP led by 22 after three.
“We had that sluggish start, but once we locked in defensively and controlled the glass, the basket seemed to grow as we continued to make shots,” Alfred said.
GP, which shot 53 percent from the floor, grabbed its first 30-point lead following an Ellison put-back in the fourth. Trey Jordan knocked down a corner 3-pointer and Ellison gave GP its largest lead of the night, 77-46 with 2:25 left.
Ellison scored 11 and grabbed 9 boards. Brandon Lawrence added 11 and 4 assists, and McCarthy had 4 assists, 3 steals and made 4 threes. GP also shot 19 of 23 from the charity stripe.
This story was originally published February 28, 2019 at 9:02 PM.
